While serving with US forces in Iraq, Captain Orr contacted the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund to ask for help in securing the services of a pediatric urologist for Zaynab, a six-year-old Iraqi girl born with congenital exstrophy of the urinary bladder. (In utero, her bladder had developed outside the abdomen and leaked continuously.)

Dr. John Gearhart, a pediatric urologist from Johns Hopkins, performed the successful surgery pro-bono at Children’s Memorial Hospital, Columbus, Ohio. Zaynab is now safely back home with her family in Iraq.

Many more Iraqi children are still in need. Interested readers can contact the Iraqi Children’s Relief Fund via the postal service at ICRF, PO Box 1148, Barre, VT 05641 (Telephone: 802-476-5452).